Partners
by bearsrawesome
Summary: The 5-0 team have just finished another successful raid and finished their latest case but it all falls apart when their murderer hits Steve with his car. With the question of Steve's survival hanging over Danny's head and the overwhelming guilt of being the one who put him there, will Danny be able to stay strong and help his partner recover from the brink of death? Stevewhump
1. Chapter 1

**So this is going to be more of a series of One shots based off this one event and so there isn't really much of a mysterious plot line to it. Please review if you want more and enjoy!**

Danny stepped out into the bright Hawaiian sunlight, taking his ringing phone from his pocket and placing it against his ear. It was a bright, hot day and the humidity was really pressing against Danny and inflating his pounding headache. The warehouse behind him was filled with HPD officers running around and arresting the drug dealers that 5 0 had just successfully tracked and taken down in only a matter of days. Steve was outside talking to Duke Lukela and sorting out the transfer of the prisoners, still wearing his body armour and not looking even sweaty despite the scorching heat. Danny wiped his brow frustratedly, undoing his body armour and hearing Kono emerge from the door behind him.

"Williams."

"Hey Danno!" a cheerful little voice chirped through the speaker at Danny's ear.

Danny ran a hand through his hair and couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips "Heya Monkey, how are you?"

"I'm fine, what are you doing?" Grace asked sweetly, her voice so calming on Danny's frayed nerves from the raid and subsequent fire-fight "I just got back from shopping with Mummy and I got a new dress to wear for your birthday next weekend."

"That's great, Gracie, I can't wait to see you in it. Right now I'm at work." Danny didn't hide the eagerness in his voice as they continued the conversation.

Kono listened in from afar, her own grin spreading across her face as she watched her friend's tired expression disappear as soon as he heard his daughter's voice. She finished checking her gun and slid it back into her holster, noting that CSU had just arrived to oversee the handling of the evidence and Kono directed them to the entrance with a warm smile. It was nice to finally see their hard work pay off. All around them, various members of the drug cartel they had just stopped were being loaded into police vans by HPD. For a few minutes, she was content to just watch events unfold around her and listen in on Danny's heart-warming catch up with Gracie, especially on such morbid circumstance. 5-0 had become involved in the investigation after an undercover HPD officer had been brutally murdered by one Carlos Sanchez, a right hand lieutenant at the very top of the local drug operation in Honolulu. Carlos had discovered the man's identity after they had tortured a local rival who had recognised the man as a cop and had been all too willing to share information in exchange for his pathetic life.

Steve had been angered by the whole thing as usual, taking the hit against the man quite personally when he met the poor man's wife who was heavily pregnant with their first child. She had discovered the half-charred corpse, speared onto the garden fence outside their hope like some horrifying trophy and Steve had promised to find the man responsible. Now the ex-SEAL was making sure that everything was in order for the men to be prosecuted and Sanchez to be processed and sent down for life or the death penalty-no one particularly cared which as long as he was off the streets. Danny was still nattering away to his daughter about how they could go wherever she wanted for dinner but the little girl was protesting that it wasn't her birthday. In the end it seemed that Danny would have to resolve his indecisiveness with Steve as he did have the best knowledge of dining on the island for some peculiar reason.

Suddenly there was a bang and Chin pushed through a couple of HPD officers marking the doorway and sprinted toward Kono. He was panting and looking almost frightened as he raced toward her.

"Kono!" he yelled sounding almost panicked "Sanchez is missing! He's still here!"

As if on cue, there was a savage squeal of spinning tyres and a truck burst through a metal garage door, spinning as it narrowly avoided a line of HPD vans and sent a few startled officers diving out of the way. The others watched in horror as the car lurched sideways toward the exit and headed straight for Danny who stood frozen in place, the phone still against his ear. In a blink, Steve was beside him, practically throwing the man aside as he shoved him out of the trucks path and putting himself directly in its wake.

Danny hit the ground hard on his back, his phone skittering across the tarmac and he reached out toward his partner "Steve!"

The van struck Steve full on and the hood crumpled on impact, the windscreen shattering as Steve rolled over it and across the roof before slamming down with a hard crack on the other side. Everyone stood in silent shock, the vehicle coming to a jarring halt and the sound of someone cursing filtered through the broken window as Sanchez came tumbling out of the driver's door with a nasty cut on his forehead, and he collapsed onto his hands and knees. Danny leapt up, ignoring the protest of his knee from the twisting fall and staggered to his friend's side. Steve lay motionless on the grey tarmac, blood pooling under his head, his face slack and pale.

"No,no,no,no,no,no,no..."Danny panted, dropping to his knees at his partner's fallen side "Please Steve…you stupid idiot…open your eyes partner…come on, you can do it…"

Kono and Chin appeared at his side, Chin reaching down and feeling Steve's neck for a pulse. Both looked expectantly at him as Danny clutched Steve's hand and continued his inaudible muttering with Kono looking over them with no clue of what to do. HPD officers were swarming all around and the unmistakable sound of ambulance sirens were approaching in the distance as Sanchez was dragged away laughing maniacally at the prone SEAL and his friend's.

"I killed the head of the invincible 5-0!" he screamed dramatically, fighting the officers in an attempt to get a better look at Steve and his teammates "I'm going to be famous…everyone in prison is going to worship me…I am a God!"

Kono was up without a second word, shoving aside a HPD officer and slamming her fist into the pompous man's face; tears streaming down her cheeks. Duke towed her backwards and they both fell back as she strained against him, leaning in and sobbing into his shoulder as they sat on the sun-baked ground.

Chin breathed a quick sigh of relief "I've got a pulse! It's weak and slow and he's fading fast but he's still with us!" then to Danny he whispered "We can still save him."

"Come on SuperSEAL-don't you dare give up on me now…not after everything." Danny choked, squeezing his friend's hand in what he hoped was a form of comfort "I can't lose another partner Steve; you're my best friend and I swear to god if you die on me I am never setting foot in Hawaii ever again, you hear me! You cannot go and break Gracie's heart like that; she is so excited to see you on Saturday, remember? It's my birthday; you still have to take me on that stupid hiking trip that you've been nagging me about for months! You promised Steven, don't go and break your promise…"

Chin placed his hand on Danny's shoulder as the detective wept openly, his fingers still intertwined with the unconscious man's. The paramedics arrived soon after and Danny was vaguely aware of being pulled away but he didn't have the strength to protest as the two uniformed men tended to the drawn, bloody SEAL. Chin murmured words of reassurance as the paramedics treated the Commander and carefully loaded him onto a gurney with the assistance of Danny and Chin who stared down at their friend with worry as a brace was strapped around his neck and the medical professionals wheeled the man up and into the waiting ambulance. Danny climbed in behind them, having gained control of himself for the moment and he looked down at Chin as he took a seat beside Steve.

"I'll see you at Queens." Danny looked up from Steve's still face and stared directly into Chin's eyes "I dropped my phone and I was talking to Grace…please call her and tell her it's alright okay and that I'll talk to her soon? Don't tell her about Steve though…that's something her father has to do."

Chin nodded his acknowledgment before he shut the doors and the ambulance was fleeing out the entrance and rushing off in the direction of the hospital, leaving Chin and Kono alone with the chaos.


	2. Chapter 2

**So this is a long chapter and I'm really sorry that this chapter took so long but I've been a bit busy and my posting is likely to become more spread out and infrequent once I get back to school next week but I'll try to keep updating as often as I can. Thank you for the masses of support it blew my mind with how much you guys liked my writing. For those of you who are reading my other fic Separated (another Steve whump fic) I will post the next chapter as soon as possible and I'm going to skip Kono's chapter and go straight to the Danny and Steve enjoy and please review!**

_Chin nodded his acknowledgment before he shut the doors and the ambulance was fleeing out the entrance and rushing off in the direction of the hospital, leaving Chin and Kono alone with the chaos._

Steve flat-lined twice on the way to the hospital. Twice Danny was forced to watch the paramedics try to revive his still heart with the defibrillators that sent harsh electric shocks coursing through his partner's veins. All that the New Jersey detective could do was push himself as far back as possible to allow the medical professionals some room to save Steve and try to stop himself from breaking down. It took all of Danny's will not to grab his partner when he jolted as the electricity flashed through his body. Danny begged them to reach the hospital as fast as was physically possible and couldn't help but wish there was a crazy SEAL at the wheel of the ambulance and decided he would never again complain about Steve's erratic driving if they could get to the ER in the next two minutes.

"ETA?" Danny tried to keep his voice even and professional as he gripped Steve's hand tightly in a gesture that he hoped was grounding his friend.

One of the paramedics glanced up from the monitors showing Steve's condition "Five minutes."

_Damn it, Danny was never that lucky_.

The next few minutes past painfully slowly as Danny squeezed his partner's hand comfortingly, whispering kind, reassuring words he prayed the other man could hear and dismissing the pitied looks from the other two men in the compartment with him. But as soon as the doors were flung open, the paramedics leapt into action; barking orders to the doctors who were already prepped to receive the Lieutenant Commander and soon Danny was running alongside them toward the ER room whilst the paramedics surmised their patient's injuries and explaining the events in the ambulance. A nurse caught Danny's arm and he vaguely heard her telling him that he couldn't go any further before Steve was whisked through some double doors in a flurry of white coats and stethoscopes.

The nurse ushered an unsteady Danny over to a seat in the waiting room but Danny's eyes never left the swinging doors as the young women carefully pushed him down onto the seat and disappeared from sight. Danny sat in dead silence, ignoring the other worried members of the public sat around as he begged Steve to just emerge through the doors with his crazy smile and he would walk over and yell:

"I fooled you Danno! You should have seen your face!"

But of course that never happened, and Danny was still sat in the same position when Chin and Kono came rushing in, flashing their badges to anyone who questioned them as they sprinted past various medical personnel. As soon as they saw him, Kono was wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder, her shaky sobs reverberating through Danny as he snapped out of his reverie and pulled her in tighter. Chin watched them thoughtfully, his face a complex mask as he tried to be the strong, reasonable person in their situation; knowing all too that both his companions were compromised by his friend's predicament. It saddened Danny to know he appeared so weak to them but he wasn't afraid or embarrassed to show them his more emotional side; they were like his family and there was nothing that they endeavoured to hide from one another-especially on their personal side-because Danny knew there was no one else he could rely on more than his team.

"Are you okay, Danny?" Kono choked softly, pushing away from his grip and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Danny gave her a small nod and she returned the gesture with a tight smile before Chin stepped forward "Any word on Steve?"

"No," Danny rasped, looking back over to the still double doors "His heart stopped twice in the ambulance and they rushed him into surgery as soon as we got here. I haven't heard anything since."

Chin sighed deeply "He suffered an extensive head injury when he rolled over the truck; I wouldn't be surprised if he has internal bleeding…worst case scenario is a brain bleed."

"Best case?" Kono asked cautiously, wiping away a stray lock of hair and securing it behind her ear.

"Just a really bad concussion."

Danny chuckled quietly "Only Steve could get hit by a car _after_ we finish a raid,"

"I'm really sorry Danny, if I had realised sooner I would have warned you," Chin lowered his head dejectedly and he slouched slightly as he took a seat beside the detective "If only I had been quicker."

"Don't blame yourself cuz, it could have happened to any of us." Kono placated, rubbing Chin's shoulder in a reassuring motion as she leant in closer to him.

"But it didn't." Chin replied stiffly, placing his head in his hands and Danny threw him a sympathetic glance.

Danny felt a guilty pang in his heart and sat back in his seat, staring at the tiled ceiling "You didn't get your partner in a hospital."

"Danny," Kono scolded sternly and stood taller, putting her hands on her hips "Don't do that to yourself, it won't help Steve if you're wallowing in your own sorrows. He's the main thing."

Chin nodded in agreement, fixing his knowing look at Danny and the detective couldn't help but snort at the identical look between the two cousins and he clapped Chin on the back appreciatively.

"Yeah, you're right." Danny breathed solemnly, sitting further back in his seat so he was a little more comfortable "We better settle down, I have a feeling SuperSEAL is going to make us wait for him."

The cousins grinned at one another at their temporary success and settled on to the hard chairs either side of the blond detective. Each finding their most relaxed and each with their own selective view of the ER doors as they waited patiently for their boss to be wheeled back out of those doors safe and sound.

Several hours later their wish came true. The doors open with a burst of energy and a very pale looking Steve McGarrett was carefully manoeuvred toward the ICU by a flurry of nurses. The now dishevelled and tired group leapt up off their chairs to join his side but were blocked by rather exhausted looking doctor.

"I'm guessing you're all here for Commander McGarrett?" he asked with an amused smirk, holding his hands up to stop the marauding group.

Kono squared up to the older man "You're his doctor?"

"Yes I performed the surgery to save the Commander's life," the doctor admitted kindly, before holding his hand out politely "I'm Doctor Atkinson."

Danny decided this was his moment to intervene and took the doctor's hand "Detective Danny Williams; this is Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly and Officer Kono Kalakaua. How is McGarrett?"

"The Commander was in bad shape, so I'll start with the minor and work upwards. Basically he has a lot of bruising and minor abrasions pretty much everywhere including some deep cuts on his back and shoulders, a fractured wrist, dislocated elbow, three cracked ribs, two broken, broken femur and fractured ankle; fortunately his pelvis wasn't broken but bruised to the bone in the impact." Doctor Atkinson paused for a moment to let the other's process what he was saying before he raised the clipboard in his hand and his eyes skimmed over the detailed writing "We had some internal bleeding but we managed to fix that before it caused too much damage but our main concern is his brain. We detected a skull fracture and subsequent brain bleed that has put him in a coma. We managed to save his life and stop the haemorrhaging but that doesn't necessarily means he's out of the woods yet. If he makes it through the night then there is hope but I have to be honest this might be Commander McGarrett's last night on Earth."

Danny felt his heart drop and his body froze over and became numb, beside him Chin and Kono were having similar reactions; all of them trying to stop the tears threatening to fall and Kono failing as hot tears started trickling down her face. Doctor Atkinson watched them sympathetically and Danny realised he was waiting for them to gain control of themselves so he could continue.

"There's more?"

Doctor Atkinson nodded sadly and let the clipboard fall to his side "If the Commander survives the night he'll physically make a full recovery within a few months with some extensive physical therapy."

"And mentally?" Chin pried questionably, raising an eyebrow in blatant worry.

"You have to accept that Commander McGarrett might not be the same man you knew," Doctor Atkinson explained gently, his face showing his compassion for his patient's dilemma "If McGarrett wakes up from his coma there is a high chance that he'll have sustained some brain damage; I can't tell you how much from the scans, but it could range from short term memory loss to complete neural failure."

Kono gasped and out her hands to her face "You mean he could be brain dead?"

Doctor Atkinson nodded almost guiltily as he looked at the devastation on the teams faces and he fiddled awkwardly with the collar of his coat. Despite his lack of optimism, Danny was particularly glad that at least the doctor was being honest about Steve's chances; if there was one thing that Danny didn't need right now, it was false hope.

"Thank you Doctor Atkinson; we really appreciate your help." Danny said quietly, summoning all the energy he could muster and took a deep solid breath.

Doctor Atkinson nodded gratefully "If you need anything else, don't hesitate to page me; I'm on call all night."

With that, the exhausted doctor turned and strode away, disappearing into the chaos of the rest of the ward. The rest of 5-0 just looked at one another, drawing strength from one another as they prepared to go see their leader, now knowing the chances of him pulling through the experience unscathed was incredibly low. None of them wanted to admit the possibility that they had lost their friend forever. Together, they located Steve's room and wandered stiffly toward it; walking in step as if they were a hive mind as they built up the strongest mental walls they could and secured their emotions behind locked doors. They all stopped outside his private room-taking one last look to each other-before Danny pushed on the handle and entered first, not hiding the pain in his blue eyes.

In front of him, the normal SuperSEAL McGarrett was replaced by a weak, feeble replica; his eyes sunken and hair dishevelled, poking out from underneath a thick white bandage. There was a steady beeping indicating the SEAL's heartbeat and a ventilator was jammed down his throat helping him to breathe. IV lines and various other medical wiring trailed off of him, embedded in his sickly white skin. There were casts and bandages over Steve's bruised and battered body, his leg slightly elevated by a hefty strap. Danny couldn't stop the gasp escaping his lips, noting that both Chin and Kono did the same as they stepped in behind him. Finally, Danny approached the bed and pulled up the chair in the corner of the room so he was right beside his friend's head and carefully took his limp hand.

"Hey babe," Danny whispered, trying to keep his voice calming and even in case Steve could hear the fear in his voice "So you took a nasty bump to the head for me and when you get better I'm going to make you pay for being so sudden…you haven't given me my birthday present yet either you jerk."

Steve didn't retort back, just lay completely still and he did not stir nor made any effort to do anything whatsoever but keep sleeping. Kono and Chin took their places either side of the bed and Kono perched on the edge, taking Steve's other hand but remaining silent.

Chewing his lip nervously, Danny lowered his eyes and studied the other man's hand "I'm not joking Steve, you owe me a present …I don't care whatever stupid little thing you prepared for me…the best present you could give me is if you just woke up, okay? Just open those pretty little eyes of yours and flash that stupid smirk and I won't-" Danny's voice cracked and he choked back a sob as Chin came round and placed his hand lightly on his shoulder. "-I won't ever have a go about you about driving the Camaro ever again. Heck, you can drive it all you like if you just sit up and talk to me partner, that's all."

Danny waited with baited breath, watching his friend in a hopeless anticipation before sighing and sagging in his seat and squeezing Steve's hand in a reassuring gesture. Kono gave him a tearful smile as a well done before carefully shifting the bandage on Steve's head and wiping her tear stained cheeks. Chin sat down in another seat, the weariness evident in his dark eyes as he sat forward with his hands on his lap.

They all settled down for a long night ahead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all the massive support I've been getting over this story, I'm so glad you guys like it and your reviews mean the world to me. Last chapter had a few grammatical errors but I hadn't updated for a good few days and so I decided that was enough and pretty much wrote the whole thing whilst my family was watching the last Batman film (you know the one with Bane that I've already seen) and I had a massive headache but would not give up because I felt really guilty. Anyway please review I love hearing from all of you!**

_They all settled down for a long night ahead._

"Danny," a soft voice whispered in the back of his subconscious, the swirling darkness dissipating "Danny, wake up."

Slowly, Danny raised his head of the edge of the mattress and carefully peeled his bleary eyes open; trying to blink away the painful sunlight filtering in through the blinds. Looking up, Danny met Kono's caring gaze and realised he was still sat in the chair beside McGarrett; his head resting on the mattress by his shoulder and hand still firmly clasping the unconscious man's. Steve still looked peacefully asleep; his chest rising and falling gently with every breath and Danny was surprised to see the ventilator had been removed during his slumber.

Seeing that Danny was now aware of what was going on Kono touched his shoulder gently "Steve pulled through; the doctors say there's a good chance he's going to recover…the worst is over."

"Thank goodness," Danny breathed a deep sigh of relief, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to overcome his pounding headache from being awake most of the night "I thought we really were going to lose him a couple of times last night."

"Me too, but he's strong, he made it." Kono smiled down at the man, adjusting his bed sheet slightly so that it was covering him more comfortably.

Danny glanced up at her after giving Steve's hand a squeeze in mild congratulation "How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a couple of hours," she shrugged lightly, pulling up a seat beside him "The doctors had given him that last bout of medication and his heart settled; only then did you actually get some rest."

"Huh," Danny grunted as he frowned again, slouching back in his seat "I don't remember that."

Kono just chuckled in response "Doctor Atkinson is going to take him for an MRI this afternoon to see what his brain function is like but he sounds hopeful from all the responses he's had so far."

"Doesn't change the fact that Steve's in a coma…" Danny stated darkly, staring at his partner's ashen, slack face and listening to the steady beeping that indicated Steve's heartbeat.

"Danny!" Kono admonished in a harsh gasp, giving him a warning tap on his arm "Steve can still hear you know!"

Danny scowled at her, his muscles tensing "He may be brain dead; I don't particularly think he cares at the moment."

"I'm going to put this down to you being tired and stressed but don't you dare start talking about Steve like that, especially not right in front of him." Kono glowered at him, her eyes fierce at lips tight and colourless.

Realising his mistake, Danny dropped his head in his hands and tried to rub the sleepiness from his eyes "I'm sorry Kono, you're right. It's just difficult to be optimistic right now."

She nodded her forgiveness then leaned over and rested her head in his shoulder "It's going to be okay, Steve's going to be fine and this'll become just a memory we can look on as a victory for 5-0."

Sighing, Danny gave Kono a brief nod in return before rubbing his thumb against the back of Steve's hand in a soothing manor. For a good few minutes, the three stayed exactly as they were just thinking, left to their own thoughts and Danny really wondered whether Steve was aware of what was going on around him; what his friends were going through. Suddenly the door clicked and Danny turned to see Chin practically tip toeing into the room, as if afraid to awaken the comatose SEAL. Danny wouldn't have minded if he came in with an entire parade of out of tune orchestras or a conglomerate of squeaky boy bands if it woke his partner up; so he was slightly confused at the action but reckoned Chin was just telling himself that this coma was Steve resting and recuperating and so left him to it.

"Hey gang, Steve okay?"

Danny smiled wearily at him "No change, you haven't missed out on any miracles."

"What's up, cuz?" Kono asked amicably, twisting in her seat a little to face him as Chin stayed in the doorway.

Chin's face contorted into a wide grin as he looked up at Danny "Kono, why don't you and I go get something to eat; Steve and Danny have a very special visitor."

As if by magic, a little girl poked her head through the door behind Chin, a sheepish smile on her face as she skipped inside a practically jumped on Danny.

"Danno!" Gracie squealed, embracing her father as Danny scooped her up into his arms and held her close "I was worried!"

Grace sat back from her father, settling on his knee while he twiddled her smooth pigtails in between his fingers in his usual relaxing motion. She wore a pretty pink top that hung off her shoulders loosely and denim shorts that reached down just past her knees.

"Heya Gracie, Danno's okay; there's no need to be worried." he gushed happily, breathing in her sweet scent as the tiredness all but disappeared in an instant.

The little girl turned around nervously, looking over at Steve as she leaned back against Danny's chest "Is Uncle Steve going to be okay?"

"Uncle Steve just needs to sleep for a while," he reassured her, kissing the top of her head as he pulled her closer "He took a nasty bang to the head and so his brains need to unscramble themselves a bit; you know to their normal scrambled."

Taking this as their cue to leave, Kono rose from her seat and took Chin's hand as they left the room; quietly shutting the door behind them and heading out into the hospital corridor. Grace frowned sitting up a little so that she could see both her father and his best friend whilst she spoke; as if she expected that either one would answer her.

"What happened? You were on the phone and then…"she trailed off and tears filled her eyes and Danny quickly cupped her face in his hands.

"Hey, hey, don't cry monkey," Danny whispered despairingly, feeling his own eyes become wet as he watched his daughter fight her own emotions "It's alright, I'm alright."

She raised her head at him again, her voice choked "What happened Daddy?"

"Uncle Steve and I were chasing this bad guy, okay honey?" Danny began to explain, his mind rapidly processing words as he tried to phrase it in the gentlest way possible "When you called, we had just finished catching the bad man's other bad friends…but the bad man tried to escape in a car."

Danny took a deep breath as his words caught in his throat and he momentarily scolded himself for sounding so patronising but Grace didn't seem to mind; she just stared at him, waiting patiently for him to continue with her big, teary, sparkling eyes.

"The car was going to hit me…"Danny took another deep breath as he watched Gracie's eyes widen and she gripped onto him a little tighter, as if checking he was actually there, unharmed "But Uncle Steve pushed me out of the way and so he…got hit. He had a pretty bad tumble okay? But we caught the bad guy and Steve is going to be just fine, I promise."

The little girl chewed her lip anxiously but she seemed convinced "You never break a promise, do you Danno?"

"No, I don't monkey." he murmured back, kissing her on the forehead and forcing himself to smile "Uncle Steve is going to get better."

Satisfied with his answer, Gracie whirled off his lap; jumping onto the edge of Steve's bed and grabbing his hand and staring up at his face with a weak smile.

"Hey Uncle Steve, you hear that? Danno says you're going to be okay!"

There was a guilty pang in Danny's heart at her words and he grimaced at the sensation. A new fear welled up within him: what if he ended up lying to Grace? Would she ever forgive him? Swallowing the emotion, Danny looked up at his daughter and nodded for her to continue.

"You need to wake up soon, Uncle Steve. Everyone is missing you, especially me and Danno. I know you promised to take me hiking for Danno's birthday this weekend but that can wait if you don't feel well enough…I can wait till you get better. But you do need to come to his party on Saturday, it wouldn't feel right if I gave him his present and you weren't there; after all you did help me get it and took me shopping."

The little girl paused as if waiting for Steve to reply but Steve just remained there and all that could be heard was the tweeting of birds outside the open window and the steady beat of the heart monitor at the side of the bed.

Finally the little girl leaned forward and planted a light kiss on the sleeping SEAL's cheek "I love you Uncle Steve; come back to us."

Danny grinned and looked at his partner's face; hoping to see a reaction; instead he was disturbed by an excited squeak from Grace.

"He squeezed my hand! Uncle Steve heard me!"

Grace's eyes lit up and Danny's heart almost stopped in his chest as he jumped up and grabbed Steve's shoulder, giving him a gentle shake and simultaneously hitting the call button.

"Steve! Steve! Can you open your eyes for me babe?" Danny called to him desperately as a nurse rushed in, followed surprisingly by a very flustered looking Doctor Atkinson.

"What's going on here?"

Gracie looked up at the doctor, beaming brightly "Uncle Steve heard me, he squeezed my hand!"

Doctor Atkinson's eyes widened and he rushed over to the other side of his patient's bed, bending down and carefully lifting Steve's eyelid, shining a torch at his pupil and watching it dilate. He let the eyelid fall shut once more, but a smile was spreading across his face.

"Talk to him," he instructed Danny, looking over to the younger man "See if he can recognise your voice."

Danny nodded in acknowledged the order, watching Steve's hand "Hey babe, it's me. It's Danno. Come on SuperSEAL, wake up."

There was an unmistakable movement and Danno watched happily as Gracie squeezed back in reply, her face bright and excited as she let the older man know she was there. Doctor Atkinson had a wide smile on his face and he tilted his head for Danny to continue.

"Well done partner, you're doing so well, come on."

But this time there was no reaction and the group remained in dead silence for a couple of minutes as they watched the SEAL lying completely unmoving. Doctor Atkinson moved over to the monitors and checked their readings, sliding a pen from his pocket and making a couple of notes on the clipboard at the end of Steve's bed. Grace climbed off the bed and grabbed her father's hand, giving him her support as they waited for the doctor to say something.

"Don't worry; he's just sleeping, that probably exhausted him." Doctor Atkinson stated kindly, smiling at the two of them "We can't expect him to wake up immediately but this is a brilliant sign."

"You mean…Steve may not have any…damage?" Danny asked tentatively, gripping his daughter's hand a little tighter.

The doctor stared at his patient for a moment "Not necessarily but it confirms he's not brain dead, and he certainly remembers both you and your daughter…she is your daughter?"

Before Danny could answer, Grace released his hand; stepping forward and extending her other one toward the doctor "I'm Grace Williams, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Doctor Atkinson and Danny exchanged equally shocked and impressed glances before the doctor took her hand and shook it amiably "Doctor Atkinson, it is lovely to meet you to Grace."

"So will Uncle Steve wake up soon?" she asked quizzically, letting go of his hand and looking up at the doctor curiously, her expression strangely serious.

"I can't be sure," Doctor Atkinson replied, rubbing his chin and meeting the little girl's eye "But this is certainly a good sign."

Right then, Kono and Chin burst into the room; looking equally breathless and rattled as they entered, neither now caring if they disturbed Steve.

"Is he okay? Has something happened?" Kono yelled fearfully, looking down at the bed with a horrified expression as if she expected to see him lying dead covered by a thin sheet.

Chin seemed more controlled as he took in the others startled expressions and noted that everything seemed fine "The nurse said they had been alerted; we were worried Steve was in trouble."

"No," Doctor Atkinson assured the cousins, waving his clipboard a little as he gestured toward Steve "Commander McGarrett has just shown some great signs that he is recovering quickly; he is quite the fighter. I don't think I've ever had a patient who has shown such progress in a day."

"Yeah, he's a stubborn one. He's probably trying to break the 'shortest coma ever' record." Danny tutted, shaking his head at the unconscious SEAL.

Doctor Atkinson smiled fondly "Well I'm afraid I have to go, I have other patients I need to check up on."

The group all nodded their thanks to the doctor as he slipped past before Kono and Chin returned to their respective seats and Grace sat back down on Danny's lap.

_All Danny could think of was how lucky the SEAL was to have such a great Ohana as they all settled down to take vigil over their friend._


	4. Chapter 4

**So I finished all my homework last night so I can write and relax all weekend, but I doubt I'll be able to get a chapter of Separated up until next weekend if I'm lucky and don't get too much homework. Only been back at school three days but it feels more like a month so forgive me if my tiredness produces yet another abundance of spelling and grammatical error-I hate it when I do it too, always ruins the flow of writing and brings me back to reality whenever I read something that's written badly, or even just has a few odd errors. So anyway I hope you guys had a good week and having an even greater weekend; enjoy!**

_All Danny could think of was how lucky the SEAL was to have such a great Ohana as they all settled down to take vigil over their friend._

Danny strode into the courtroom practically spitting fire as he took a seat just behind the prosecution's bench. It was bad enough he had to leave Steve's side at such a critical stage of his recovery but now he had to stand up and give evidence to a bunch of idiots in the criminal law system because the physical evidence apparently wasn't enough to convict Sanchez and so they needed reliable witness testimony to 'seal the deal'. Grace had actually scolded Danny when he had explained that he had to leave Steve's side and had downright refused-in her stubborn, adorable way-to leave with Stan and Rachel with a rant that had actually put Danny to shame. Kono had cheerfully volunteered to look after her whilst Gracie had settled down to read to Steve as her little way to ease his boredom, as she was thoroughly convinced that after the incident the day before, Steve could hear everything and was totally aware of what was happening; he just couldn't wake up, no matter how much he tried. Grace declared she would be patient and stay by his side until he felt better and was ready to wake up; no matter how long it took. When his daughter had publically declared this to both her father and her mother, Danny had never felt more proud of her than he did in that moment-and that was saying a lot because he was proud of her practically all of the time-but he had taken Rachel's side when they reasoned that Grace still needed to go to school. Rachel had fortunately-but reluctantly-agreed to let Grace off school for the day so that she could spend a long weekend in the hospital with her father and her Uncle Steve but she had been persistent that Grace had to come home on Sunday evening to attend school the next morning.

Danny chewed on his lip angrily and managed to stop himself from leaping out of his seat as Carlos Sanchez was led from the cells in cuffs, flanked by a couple of large, menacing looking guards who swiftly manoeuvred him into position in the defendant's box. A hand on Danny's shoulder startled him and Danny noticed that Chin had taken a seat behind him. He had obviously come to support Danny but as Chin wasn't a witness, he wasn't permitted to sit in the stand beside Danny. Danny had this nagging feeling Chin was here to make sure he didn't do something stupid like try to kill Sanchez, ruin Danny's career, bring down 5-0 and get Sanchez freed under some kind of reasonable doubt plea; which would no doubt happen seeing as Sanchez had one of the best lawyers on the island being paid by the cartel for a lot of money. Slowly, Danny sat back down as proceedings began, the judge entering quickly and running through the motions. Danny followed them unconsciously, barely paying attention as he shot bolts of pure lightening toward the defendant's box and hands curled into tight fists by his sides. The intensity of Danny's glare seemed to draw Sanchez's gaze and he gave him a smug smile before turning back to listen to the case. The fury that welled up within him seemed to be burning him up from the inside out and Danny felt that if Chin hadn't been sat right behind him, Danny would have ripped the criminal to shreds in front of everyone without a hint of remorse.

"Detective Williams?"

Danny shook himself awake and looked at the lawyer in front of him, scolding himself for his lack of attention and the embarrassed blush in his cheeks. It took Danny a second to realise that everyone in the courtroom was looking at him expectantly and Danny tried feebly to hide his confusion.

The prosecutor looked at him uncertainly "Detective Williams will you please take the stand."

Danny nodded quickly and rose from his seat, walking briskly over to the stand beside the judge and trying to ignore the stares from the curious men and women of the jury. He was not portraying a particularly professional image of himself right now and Danny couldn't help but wonder if it would affect their opinion of his statement of events. Following the usher's lead, Danny made the usual pledge of truthfulness then stepped up to the block as the prosecution lawyer stood to speak.

"Detective Williams," the man began, he dark hair concealed by the wig atop his head "Would you please explain to the jury why Mr Sanchez has been accused of murder?"

Danny frowned and thought for a second "Three days ago we received a call from HPD informing us that one of their undercover agents in one of the drug cartels in Honolulu had been found dead. Officer Jason Hailama had been shot in the head execution style and his body had been dumped outside HPD headquarters at around twelve o'clock the previous evening. The Governor handed the case over to us as we had no previous affiliations with the victim."

Danny paused and glanced over at Chin who gave him a reassuring nod and gestured that he was doing well.

"My partner and I discovered that one of the cartel's rivals had been kidnapped by Sanchez and his men. We found this rival in hospital having been tortured by Sanchez in an effort to gain information on an incoming cocaine shipment coming into Hawaii today on one of the freighters. It turns out that Officer Hailama had been on the team that had grabbed this gang member and this witness-whom I am unable to name for his own safety-recognised him from a previous DUI offence of which Hailama was the arresting officer."

Glancing over to the jury, Danny could see that they were listening intently, hanging off every word he said and Danny tried to forget that Sanchez was also watching him from the other side of the room.

"This gang member had revealed Hailama's true identity in exchange for his life and so Sanchez had interrogated Hailama and punished him for his betrayal. Using one of our informants we learnt that the cartel was based in a warehouse near the East side and organised a raid where we subsequently arrested Sanchez and his followers; whilst also seizing a number of illegal arms and Class A drugs that were being stored there."

Danny realised he was gesticulating wildly as he spoke and instinctively forced his over-enthusiastic hands back to his sides; reminding himself that he seemed more aggressive when he became animated. The defence shuffled her files slightly from behind her desk almost uncertainly as the prosecution lawyer continued.

"You arrested Mr Sanchez at the scene, I understand."

Danny chewed his lip slightly "We did and we found evidence linking him to the illegal merchandise that was concealed there."

"Your CSI teams also found Officer Hailama's blood at the scene," the man stated solemnly, his face impassive "Is this correct?"

"We believe that Officer Hailama was killed in one of the back rooms of the warehouse complex; it appeared someone had tried to clean up the scene shortly before we arrived."

"Did you find the murder weapon?" the prosecutor asked, watching Danny rather keenly and Danny suddenly felt a new sense of pressure upon himself; one that he had never experienced whilst taking the witness stand before. The need to prove this man guilty; so that he would never see the light of day again.

Danny swallowed, trying to overlook the abrupt dryness in his mouth "My colleague, Officer Kalakaua, found the gun in the warehouse and forensics came back positive for Sanchez's DNA and fingerprints."

There was a pause as the prosecutor looked at his notes before looking Danny directly in the eyes and something about the look made Danny nervous.

"Detective Williams, I also understand that your partner was injured in the raid?"

Time seemed to freeze and Danny felt the room grow colder. He did _not_ want to talk about Steve right now; his nerves were frayed from lack of sleep and the constant raw emotion that coursed through his veins mixed with the presence of the man that could possibly have ruined Steve's life left a burning cocktail of hate and fury stirring up within him. Danny did all he could to keep his voice even as he choked on the heavy lump in his throat.

"Yes," Danny said as calmly as possible, trying to keep any steeliness from his voice at the change of subject "Sanchez hit him with his truck as he tried to escape."

"Commander McGarrett is now in a subsequent coma, isn't that correct? And the doctors are worried that he may have a large amount of brain damage if he wakes up and will need to rely on help for the rest of his life."

It was more of an announcement than a question and Danny found himself unable to answer, so instead he nodded and proceeded to inspect his shoes; tears welling in his eyes.

There were a few more seconds of tense silence before the prosecutor continued "Detective Williams, could you tell the jury how Commander McGarrett came to be in this life threatening situation?"

Danny struggled to fight back tears as he bit the inside of his cheek "I was talking to my daughter after we finished the raid. She wanted to know the arrangements for my birthday lunch this weekend…Steve and I had been so busy; I hadn't had time to think about it. The suspects we had caught were being loaded into the HPD prison vans to be transported to headquarters but apparently Sanchez was missing but I didn't know…I thought he had been caught by the others."

The incident flashed before Danny's eyes and he squeezed them shut in an attempt to clear them from his mind, taking deep breaths as he could hear the screeching tyres of the van ring loudly in his ears.

"It all happened in a matter of seconds. There was a screech of tyres and when I turned around…the truck was heading straight for me. Steve…Steve pushed me out of the way but…" Danny trailed off with a choking sound as tears slipped down his cheeks.

When Danny looked up, he could see the emotion in every eye in the courtroom; all of them sympathising with his pain and looking at Sanchez with a renewed sense of hatred. Sanchez just looked smug, as he watched Danny crumble before him as a result of his actions and suddenly the deep sadness in Danny's heart was replaced by disgust and repulsion as he desperately wished he could climb over the stand and punch the silly smirk off of the pig's face. It was probably what Steve would do if their positions were reversed. But Danny calmed himself, because he was a cop, not a Navy SEAL and Steve would kill him if he got himself arrested or kicked off 5-0 for someone like Sanchez-even more so if it was in Steve's name- no matter how much the criminal deserved it. That was when it hit Danny; the prosecution was questioning him about Steve because they wanted this reaction, they wanted Danny to show his emotions to convince the jury. No one could fake that amount of devotion and devastation and the jury members would surely see that; see the humanity in Danny- despite him being a haole-and take his side. They were using him.

On any other occasion that probably would have angered Danny, but if it got Sanchez sent down, Danny was willing to do anything. Chin was bristling in his seat, having obviously caught on to the lawyer's game plan and having a less forgiving stature for the man manipulating Danny's emotions to reach a conviction. Danny just gave him a reassuring look before the lawyer nodded to him appreciatively.

"Thank you Detective Williams. No further questions."

From then on it was a whirlwind of useless questions from the defence; who had obviously been taken off guard and seemed to have no prior knowledge of Steve's predicament before that moment. Danny mostly worked on impulses, barely thinking as he answered each question ruefully, not bothering to show any more compassion as he felt his energy spent. Being upset was tiring and now it was finally starting to catch up with him and the longer the questions continued, the shorter Danny's answers became. He didn't have time for this; he had to get back to Steve.

When eventually he was released from the torture, Danny didn't even wait for the convictions; giving a brief explanation that Chin should stay to describe Sanchez's expression to him when Sanchez was inevitably found guilty. No doubt the proceedings were being recorded for the Governor to enjoy as well as most of the public, if the news crews outside were anything to go by. As soon as Danny stepped outside, he was marauded by cameras and reporters; all interrogating him for information about the case, the suspect, Commander McGarrett's condition; but Danny just ignored them, not even bothering to murmur no comment as he climbed into the Camaro and sped off back to the hospital.

_He didn't have time for them. Danny's place was at Steve's side. No matter where that was._


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Hope you all had a nice week, mine's been really busy and filled with tons of homework. I just finished my drama and decided I would leave my French and English till tomorrow because they're going to take me hours probably and it's nearly seven thirty now. I hope you enjoy this Chapter and please review.**

_He didn't have time for them. Danny's place was at Steve's side. No matter where that was._

Danny awoke to see light filtering through the half drawn blinds and he slowly stretched out from his scrunched up position on the chair. His muscles protested angrily at the movement; twinging as they were pulled taunt and furiously reminded Danny of his uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. Blinking the bleariness from his eyes, Danny yawned widely and tried to massage away the painful crick in his neck from his awkward position on the chair. Steve still hadn't moved an inch from last night and Danny was actually finally admitting to himself how much he hated the SEAL actually being so still. It wasn't normal. Not that anything going on lately was actually normal. Danny signed and rubbed his face, before slowly rising from his seat and gently patting Steve's hand.

"I'm just going to get some coffee Steven, so don't you dare think about going anywhere."

Of course he was met by silence and Danny felt his heart deflate; even though he knew the possibility of Steve waking up at that exact moment to reply was highly unlikely, a small part of Danny just hoped it would come true. Sighing deeply, Danny fiddled with his tie, tucked in his shirt and brushed his messy hair back into a relatively neat hairstyle considering he had spent the night sleeping in hospital. He glanced over Steve's prone form to the small camp bed situated in the corner where he could just see his little girl's feet sticking out under the white sheet and he was contented to watch the lump steadily rise and fall with her even breathing. Gracie was just so perfect and Danny felt like the luckiest man in the world to have been blessed with such joy even if sometimes his life meant that he and his friends ended up in hospital and facing danger every day. To be able to protect her from all the horrors of the world that Danny faced made it all worth it. After a minute he finally managed to shake himself out of his awed reverie and quickly did a final straightening of his tie before quietly slipping from the room and hearing the door click behind him. From Danny's reckoning it was around eight o'clock in the morning and though the hospital wasn't heaving it certainly wasn't empty; with doctors and nurses bustling around doing various tasks all around and a couple of patients and a handful of visitors roaming the halls.

Danny know knew pretty much the entire layout of the hospital having had more visits than was physically healthy; usually as an overnight stay because despite the fact that Steve 'SuperSEAL' McGarrett always rushed into danger, Danny seemed to usually be the one who paid the price and ended up hurt. The detective still couldn't get his head around the fact that he had just touched a dead guy to find a pulse and ended up getting infected by a lethal chemical toxin while Steve got hit by a car and only managed to pick up a few cuts and bruises. Well, now there was nothing to complain about now; this time the car had done all the damage intended and more than was expected, and Steve had been injured in Danny's stead. It seemed childish to be comparing Danny's past misfortune against his best friend who had now been in a coma for a little over three days. His doctors were growing more concerned as the days past and it didn't help Danny's stress levels as he say there hour after hour just watching for something to happen; whether it was good or bad, Danny was going to be there for Steve and help him overcome every mountain, climb up from every gorge. If the fates really did decide that this was Steve's time, Danny was going to be right beside him when he passed onto the other side; no matter how painful that would be and how much it would break his heart. That was the unspoken promise between them; to always be there for one another, to always do what was right for the other no matter the consequences. They both knew the dangers of the job they were undertaking with 5-0 and as partners they knew that there only duty was truly to one another. One night, they had gone round to Steve's house and just talked. Talked about the job, about family, about their greatest fears and darkest secrets until they knew practically everything about each other because they both needed to know that if it came down to it, they would protect one another to the very end. To most people, that was too much to ask from a partnership but to Steve and Danny, that was how they wanted it to be. If one of them died in the line of duty, they needed to know that the other would pick up their slack and look after those they cared most for in the entire world, even if it wasn't necessarily their obligation. It was an oath they had taken that night, the oath that both had the decision over the other's welfare. It was why Steve was Danny's medical proxy and emergency contact, and Danny, Steve's. That was how it worked, how they operated and they were both happy with the knowledge that they could rely on one another to do what they knew the other would want.

Danny turned the corner-narrowly missing a nurse wheeling a trolley piled high with clean, crisp sheets and towels-before heading into the kitchen and approaching the coffee machine. Surprisingly, there was no queue in the small kitchen area and Danny thanked those up above before taking a plastic cup and placing it under the machine. The coffee wasn't exactly spectacular but it certainly wasn't the most terrible thing Danny had ever drunk, so he just grumbled to himself about how hospitals should have café's when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He had turned it onto silent when Grace had fallen asleep, determined not to wake her and be bombarded by her tired, grumpy wrath. Fresh cup in hand, Danny started to walk back toward the room-careful not to spill the dark, surprisingly delightful smelling drink-and slipping the sleek phone from his pocket. Seeing that it was Kono, Danny brought the phone to his ear with a happy smile.

"Hey Kono, are you coming to the hospital today?" Danny greeted casually, but he frowned when he heard the distinct roar of an engine and the blare of sirens on the other end.

"Danny!" Kono gasped down the phone, sounding panicked and breathless "Sanchez escaped! He's heading to the hospital. Are you with Steve?"

Danny felt his heart leap into his throat and whispered "No I left him alone with Grace."

Reality dawning on him, Danny let the phone drop from his hand with a clatter and the coffee went tumbling to the ground after, the scalding contents spilling over the tiles as Danny took off down the corridor. Shoving unfortunate bystanders out of his path, Danny sprinted full pelt back toward the ICU; taking all the shortcuts he knew of and trying hard to avoid the busiest areas. A few people shouted after him, with a mixture of surprise and anger but he ignored them, only concentrating on getting back to his helpless partner and vulnerable daughter who lay completely unaware in the hospital room. Suddenly someone emerged from one of the rooms and Danny barrelled straight into them and they both went sprawling onto the floor, skidding across the smooth floor. The impact was painful and Danny was pretty sure he'd sprained his wrist as he lay on his stomach, dazed, before stumbling to his feet without even an apology, and rushing back down the long hallway.

The door was ajar when Danny reached Steve's room and he heard Gracie screaming "No! Leave Uncle Steve alone!"

In an instant, Danny ploughed through the doorway and tackled Sanchez to the ground; taking in the gun in his hand that was pointed toward Steve. The gun went off as they fell to the ground, crashing into the bedside table and crushing it with a satisfying crunch that sent the gun skittering from Sanchez's grip. Soon the two of them were rolling around on the floor, wrestling one another for control with Gracie shrieking in the background. Sanchez was much heavier than Danny and he seemed to be considerable stronger as he pushed himself on top on Danny, wrapping his hands around Danny's throat. Unable to breathe, Danny struggled, trying to kick his assailant off with everything he could muster. Darkness began to creep into Danny's vision and he could feel his body weakening with the lack of oxygen. Suddenly there was a savage cry and Gracie leapt onto Sanchez's back, managing to throw him off balance just enough for Danny to free himself but Sanchez quickly recovered, pulling Grace in front of him and throwing her viciously aside with a Spanish curse that Danny was glad she couldn't understand. Sanchez took a menacing step toward her and Danny dived to help her, only to be swiped aside and his head connected with the metal edge of the bed. Pain flared throughout Danny's head and his vision swam as he slumped onto the floor unable to make his limbs obey him, his consciousness consumed by agonising pain and the loud thumping of blood in his ears.

"Danno!" Grace cried desperately as Sanchez reached down to grab her "Help!"

Danny reached weakly toward her, trying desperately to claw his way to his feet and save his daughter. Sanchez just leered as pulled Gracie up, tears spilling down her cheeks. Where were the others? Why wasn't anyone helping them? Sanchez let a wild manic smile cross his face as he pulled Gracie in front of him, clutching her tightly against him.

"I was looking for an opportunity to get back at you for that little thing at court. I was just going to kill McGarrett but now…" Sanchez smirked and twirled a lock of Grace's hair in his finger as she recoiled against him "I can take something truly precious from you."

"No!" Danny roared, desperately trying to reach his daughter as Sanchez pulled a knife from his trousers and lowered it to Grace's neck.

Suddenly a gunshot echoed through the room and Sanchez's head whipped back, staggering slightly before collapsing into a limp pile on the floor. Everything froze and Grace's tears stopped as her mouth gaped open and she mouthed something inaudible. Danny turned his head to see Steve, sat bolt upright with Sanchez's gun in his hand. With new found energy, Danny rose to his feet, pulling Gracie into him as tears trickled down his cheeks and she shook like a leaf in a hurricane; but a shocked relief glinted in her deep brown eyes.

Danny forced himself to speak, his mouth dry "Steve?"

A relieved smile ghosted his partner's exhausted, pale face "Hey Danno, happy birthday."

**This may be a bit farfetched but hey, it's Hawaii 50 and our favourite pair, everything they do is impossible. The end may have been a little rushed but I hope you understood that Steve woke up and saved Gracie and Danno xxx I thought it was just a nice idea even if it is a little unbelievable.**


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